All Blacks have evolved as Europe's best back-pedals

Of all the miscalculations the Lions have made over the past six weeks the worst was underestimating Graham Henry. Four years ago he found himself on the same bed of nails currently occupied by Sir Clive Woodward after a far narrower series defeat by Australia; now the only question is the size of the statue the Kiwis will erect in his honour.

Having coached the Lions in a losing series, there is no one on the planet who can empathise more closely with how his successors must be feeling this morning. Without the critical panning he received back in 2001, however, he admits he might never have returned home when he did and, as a consequence, might never have assumed his present chains of All Black office alongside Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith.

Some might class subsequent events as serendipity, although those more familiar with Henry's nature detected a sense of satisfaction which strayed beyond pleasure into the self-justification. From his new perch overlooking the rest of world rugby he has claimed that northern-hemisphere sides who adhere to the limited, painstakingly structured game the Lions tried to play are on a road to nowhere.

He did not specifically mention England after watching his side score five tries to one without playing especially well but believes no future side will emulate Woodward's 2003 crop by winning the World Cup having scored only two tries in the knockout stages. "I don't think it's possible any more. I think the game has moved on. You need a multidimensional game. I don't think you can just pick a big pack and specialist kickers at nine and 10. No disrespect to what was a very successful style, but I think what's happened in this series is good for the game."

Henry was particularly droll on Saturday night, suggesting he had "lost count" of the tries scored by his side in this three-Test series. As he well knew, the final try-count was 12-3 and, if Woodward's last tour to Australasia with England a year ago is included, that figure swells to 26-5 in Woodward's last six Tests as an international rugby coach. It was all very well the Lions' leader insisting there is no gap between the hemispheres, but the fact is the south has come roaring back.

There have been one-sided Lions series before, not least in 1983 when they returned home from New Zealand nursing a 4-0 hangover, but rarely has there been one which has revealed such fault-lines in terms of tactical flexibility or dynamic attacking. Many of the same Lions mistakes were frustratingly in evidence on Saturday: a failure to build on a promising start, a tendency to concede soft scores at crucial moments and a failure to take chances, noticeably when Donncha O'Callaghan missed a glaring first-half overlap.

The sight of the All Black captain and man of the series Tana Umaga disappearing to the sin-bin early on should also have been encouraging; instead the Lions contrived to concede 14 points in his absence. Three of the tries were gift-wrapped and New Zealand never played as if without several key men. It says much for Luke McAlister's sassy debut that Daniel Carter was hardly missed. Neither did the absence of Richie McCaw, Aaron Mauger, Joe Rokocoko, Doug Howlett, Carl Hayman and Anton Oliver make a jot of difference as the likes of Conrad Smith took their chance.

On the Lions side there was further defiance from the back-row, a more controlled effort from Paul O'Connell and the usual gallant contributions from Dwayne Peel and Josh Lewsey. It never looked like being enough.

The big question now is whether the All Blacks will go from strength to strength in the forthcoming Tri-Nations, having finished a bottom a year ago. The suspicion is they will be a different proposition this time.

Andy Robinson, in contrast, has some serious thinking to do. The England coach will meet representatives of the clubs this week to discuss training days for next season. There is much to be absorbed between now and then.